This is a competitive renewal proposal to continue the next phase of the funded research "Adaptation and Mental Health of the Oldest-old", R01 MH43435. The long term goal of this research program is to examine the processes involved in the successful adaptation of cognitively intact, community-dwelling oldest-old adults. The major goal of the renewal proposal for phase two (4/1/1992 to 3/30/1997) of this project is to obtain five-year longitudinal followup data (from 65 to 100+ year olds). The longitudinal data are specifically designed to increase our understanding on intraindividual change in late adulthood and would allow us to explore the following questions: 1) Can the relationships within and among multiple indicators and factors on adaptation examined in time1 remain invariant over time (factor invariance of measurement model)? 2) How does intraindividual change in adaptation differ across gender, ethnicity, and at different times of late adulthood? 3) How do patterns of longitudinal change compare to obtained cohort differences in cognition, personality and coping, mental and functional health, support systems and dietary intake? 4) What time-ordered antecedent-consequent relationships could be uncovered? 5) What combinations of parameters could best describe intraindividual change in life satisfaction, mental and functional health with the different cohorts? A new exploratory research component is proposed to further define factors involved in adaptation and life satisfaction for the oldest-old. We propose to employ ethnographic techniques through semi-structured interviews on 25 octogenarians and 25 centenarians to 1) cross validate pertinent factors identified in extant instruments of life satisfaction, and 2) to extend and identify pertinent adaptation factors relating to the importance of home and family of origin, personality and coping, retrieval and dating of life events, and life history. These themes were derived from the review of interviews with both 80 and 100 year olds from our time1 sample.